The Defense Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Center will take over some of the duties of DoD’s Counterintelligence Field Activity, but also much more, said Mike Pick, chief of the Counterintelligence Human Intelligence Enterprise Management Office at the agency.

The center assumes the responsibilities of the Counterintelligence Field Activity. Army Maj. Gen. Theodore Nicholas is the center’s director, reporting directly to the DIA director.

This integration reflects the importance that DoD places on both human intelligence and counterintelligence, agency officials said. Human intelligence and counterintelligence are interrelated and complementary disciplines, Pick said. But the new center, which opened Aug. 4, will work to ensure the separate character of both missions is protected.

“Both are indispensible against countering foreign-intelligence threats and to the fight against global terrorism,” Pick said.

The new center will mimic what already is in place at the services and the combatant commands, he said.

The change “reflects continued evolution of DIA’s role as a defense manager for counterintelligence operations,” Pick said.

The center will manage counterintelligence and human intelligence enterprises throughout DoD, handle and develop programs that support DoD, and service counterintelligence and human intelligence functions. It also will execute assigned counterintelligence and human intelligence activities worldwide, he said.

The two disciplines work well together, Pick said. “They have a lot in common,” he explained. “They have overlapping areas -- sources and methods, tactics, techniques and procedures, training requirements, and so on,” Pick said.

The center will be responsible for synchronizing, de-conflicting and coordinating all counterintelligence and human intelligence activities. The center also brings together oversight for training, doctrine, policy, information technology architecture, planning and career management. “It just makes sense to have one staff element responsible,” Pick said.

The center will be in a position to best use counterintelligence and human intelligence expertise, he added.

The center will be based in Arlington, Va., for the time being, but will move to Quantico, Va., in 2011 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations.